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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28747983">Phoenix Wright: Phantom Justice</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyanetheTiger/pseuds/AyanetheTiger'>AyanetheTiger</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon-Typical Violence, Do I Know Where This Is Going?, Murder Trial, character tags will be added as they appear, see if i can resist making trucy a member of the phantom thieves, seriously she'd fit right in, the phantom thieves find out that the justice system can occasionally work for them, vaguely</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:27:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,923</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28747983</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyanetheTiger/pseuds/AyanetheTiger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Phoenix Wright thought spirit channeling and cross-examining talking parrots were the weirdest things that had happened during a case. After taking on the elusive Phantom Thief leader Akira Kurusu as a client though, things were about to get a whole lot weirder. </p><p>Ft. Akira getting somewhat reliable adults in his life, Trucy almost 100% becoming a phantom thief, and the author trying to apply metaverse concepts into tangible evidence that can presented in a court of law.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>None</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Based off of that one gif with phoenix and akira where akira is like “y’know the cat has a point”. PHoenix: yeah if you speak cat</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Wright Anything Agency</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>October 12, 2016   1:32 pm</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“DADDY!” </em>
</p><p>Phoenix looked up from where he was fiddling with a paperweight instead of doing some paperwork to look up at the door. Trucy Wright sprung through the door of Anything Wright Agency leaping the corner of his desk like she was doing parkour and shoved her phone screen way too close to his face. Phoenix squinted then moved his head back in order to properly focus on the screen. On the screen was a news article saying, <em>“PHANTOM THIEF LEADER IN CUSTODY".</em></p><p> </p><p>Phoenix looked up from where Trucy was still leaning in close to him. </p><p> </p><p>“Uhh what about this article Trucy?” was the only response that seemed appropriate. She hmphed, pouting, then did a little bounce on her heels which was more adorable rather than angry.</p><p> </p><p>“The leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts was arrested this morning!” Whatever these Phantom Thieves of Hearts were (a band maybe) seemed to be very important to Trucy so Phoenix did his best to sober up his face and pay attention to his daughter. Trucy continued, “They’re accusing him of causing those mental shutdowns along with the other Phantom Thieves”. She widened her eyes (a look she knew he had trouble saying no to dammit. “Please, you have to help him!”</p><p> </p><p>“By help you mean...you want me to take them on as a client!?” Someone who was accused of those horrible mental shutdowns that were happening all around Tokyo? A client like that would be huge! And trouble most likely. “How do you know he <em>didn’t </em>cause those mental shutdowns?”</p><p> </p><p>Trucy sank back on heels from where she’d been bouncing to give him a mock offended look. </p><p> </p><p>“Please daddy I’m your daughter, did you really think I didn’t do any of my own research beforehand? The Phantom Thieves only started to operate a couple months ago, but the mental shutdowns and murders started over two years ago. Moreover, the M.O.’s are too different! The Phantom Thieves always send a calling card to their victims while the true culprit just attacks without warning. Really, the only one that could possibly be attributed to the Phantom Thieves is that CEO Okumura, and really even that one is suspicious.” </p><p> </p><p>She straightened her arms behind her back and gave him a pleading look from underneath the brim of her hat. She really was pulling out the stops for this guy. </p><p> </p><p>“I <em>know</em> he’s innocent, but no one else believes he is. The only person I trust to defend him fully is you!” She pointed her finger dramatically at him like she’d most likely seen him do in court. To have that finger pointed back at him in perfect form was really quite effective. If Trucy hadn’t wanted to be a magician so much she could have followed in his footsteps. </p><p> </p><p>Phoenix leaned back in his chair and sighed, really it wasn’t often that Trucy referred him to clients she wanted him to defend. It wouldn’t hurt to hear him out, right? He turned his sternest face back to her, just so she wouldn’t get the idea that he could be convinced so easily.</p><p> </p><p>Trucy’s grin widened when she saw his face and she did a little fist pump in victory. Was his face that easy to read!? Phoenix sighed, giving up the charade. </p><p> </p><p>“So? Where is he?”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Phoenix walked through the busy Tokyo police station and made his way to the detention center with an excited Trucy by his side. Honestly if she’d only brought him here to meet her idol he would have to have a talk with her.</p><p> </p><p>On his way to the door, he passed by a silver haired young woman dressed in a dark business suit and sensible heels. She had a stern look on her face and at first didn’t give him a single glance. As he was about to pass by her though she did a double take and stopped right in front him.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Where do you think you’re going?” The way she said that to him made him feel like he was being reprimanded even though he was sure he had permission to be there. </p><p> </p><p>“We’re here to talk with our potential client” He gave her his best normal, lawyerly smile (and no Trucy he definitely didn’t practice this in the bathroom mirror).</p><p> </p><p>“Cli-you mean you’re defending Akira Kurusu, leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts? Why him?” Ah she must be referring to his reputation of only ever defending falsely accused clients. And it was nice to know his potential client’s name. Should he have done research before coming? You would think about a decade of experience would teach him to be more prepared. </p><p> </p><p>“I was requested to defend him by someone important”. Yes technically his teenage daughter had begged him, and she was, indeed, very important to him. The stern woman scoffed at him annoyedly and fixed him with her best piercing glare which really was quite sharp, ow. </p><p> </p><p>“I just talked to him for an hour and the only thing that came out of his mouth was bullshit and lies, so I don’t know what you expect to get out of him.” She straightened her back looking very self-important. “My name is Sae Nijima. I’m the prosecutor you’ll face in court if you take on his case.</p><p>Phoenix nodded back at her. It always paid to be polite.</p><p>“Phoenix Wright, defense attorney.” Prosecutor Nijima nodded back then turned her gaze to Trucy next to him in full magician regalia.</p><p> </p><p>“And who is this supposed to be?” </p><p> </p><p>Trucy smiled brightly up at her. “I’m his legal assistant!”</p><p> </p><p>Prosecutor Nijima did not look impressed but also looked too fatigued to argue any further. Was the prisoner that exhausting to speak to? This did not bode well for him. Why did he always get the weird ones?</p><p> </p><p>“Good luck then.” With that, she turned away from him leaving him to his fate. What had Trucy gotten him into? Oh, the things he’d do for family.</p><p> </p><p>When he arrived, there was no window with which to look into the cell, just two guards posted at both sides of the door. He cleared his throat to announce himself and ask them to open the doors. They glanced at him skeptically, then eyed his defense badge and reluctantly opened the doors for them. </p><p> </p><p>The inside of the room was even more dark and depressing than the outside, the only light coming from a bright fluorescent bulb overhead. The alleged leader of the Phantom Thieves had his handcuffed wrists folded on the table face in his arms and figure hunched. Phoenix was alarmed to see the angry red cuts circling his wrists and multiple bruises peeking out of his sleeves. Did he get all that from being arrested?</p><p> </p><p>The dark-haired figure didn’t look up from the table when he walked in. “You win Akechi, just kill me already”. Just walked in and already Phoenix wanted to make a U-turn out of there. Could he just - no Trucy had already closed the door behind them and was standing between him and the exit. Damn. </p><p> </p><p>“I-Umm..think you got me confused with somebody else”. At his voice the figure shot his head up at him in surprise. What!? This kid looked around Trucy’s age. He was even wearing a high school uniform! What alarmed Phoenix more than, or perhaps because of his age was more bruises painting the boy’s face a variety of colors and the obviously differing pupil sizes. Who hurt him like this?</p><p> </p><p>“You’re not who I was expecting”. The poor kid looked beaten down, but his eyes still had a stubborn streak in them.</p><p> </p><p>“And who were you expecting?”</p><p> </p><p>The boy curled his fingers on the table. “Someone more idol-like”. Already starting on the nonsense? Prosecutor Nijima’s words were ringing truer by the second. There was only one chair, so Phoenix sat down across from him with Trucy standing behind him.</p><p> </p><p>“My name is Phoenix Wright. I’m a defense attorney. This my assistant Trucy.”</p><p>“And fan!” Trucy piped up. </p><p>“My fan?” the kid muttered bemusedly before turning his dazed eyes to Phoenix. “I’ve already been questioned for over an hour by Nijima-san. Can’t this wait?” Phoenix shifted uncomfortably. The guy did look exhausted, but Phoenix had already paid subway fare for this and he didn’t want to waste it. He was cheap ok?</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I’m already here so we might as well get it out of the way. I’ll get you some water though; you must be parched.” Before Phoenix could even look at Trucy she was halfway out the door to fulfill his request. The kid looked surprised for some reason. His voice did sound hoarse; did nobody offer him water when he was interrogated for an hour? While they were waiting to get water, Phoenix might as well get started. </p><p> </p><p>“What’s your name then?”</p><p> </p><p>“Akira. Akira Kurusu”. Akira looked at Phoenix guardedly. “Are you...really here to defend me? Or were you bought off too?” This alarmed him. Of course Phoenix was there to defend him! Did he not think he would get any defense council? And who else was supposedly getting bought off?</p><p> </p><p>“Bought off? By whom?” Akira straightened up in his chair looking cautiously surprised. </p><p> </p><p>“Then why did you come?”</p><p> </p><p>Phoenix rubbed the back of his head smiling sheepishly. </p><p> </p><p>“Honestly? My daughter back there asked me to and she’s a huge fan”. He gestured behind him at the door Trucy had just walked out of. Akira looked stunned. </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new vow. It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity. With the birth of the Phoenix Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that should lead to freedom and new power…</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Well then...let’s get started shall we?”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The Phoenix: “Rise from the ashes.”<br/>Card Meaning: “To rise from the ashes of the phoenix, or to make a miraculous comeback. You will experience a personal renaissance: a triumphant recovery from a setback, be it heartbreak, illness, or financial struggle. You surprise and surpass the opposition or competition. You understand the meaning of rebirth: you will never be defeated.”</p><p>(yes I'm aware that's not a real tarot card let me have my fun)<br/>Also, timeline? what timeline?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Akira smiled bitterly at Phoenix; hands cupped loosely around the cup of water that Trucy had just brought back. “Didn’t Nijima-san tell you? I’m just a cocky teenager who’s full of shit”.</p>
<p>Phoenix shook his head in disagreement. “If you tell me the full and honest truth, I will believe you”. With some help from his magatama sure.</p>
<p>“It’s true! Daddy always takes on weird clients with crazy stories that nobody else believes,” Trucy interjected, doing her best to radiate positive vibes. Was that his reputation? Even if it was true, she didn’t need to phrase it like that.</p>
<p>Akira still looked dubious. “Fine, but don’t blame me if you change your mind after hearing my story”. This was getting more ominous by the second, but Phoenix was never one to back down from a challenge.</p>
<p>“Well starting off, are you really the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts?”</p>
<p>Akira nodded. No psy-lockes yet. So, then that meant this kid was really the leader of an international criminal organization? Youth these days.</p>
<p>“So that means you, uhhh, steal hearts? How does that work?” Trucy looks deeply disappointed in his lack of knowledge in current world topics. Hey internet data was expensive okay? </p>
<p>“Daddy it means that the Phantom Thieves force criminals and other terrible adults to have a change of heart and confess all their crimes”. Truly? That was incredible if true. How did a high school student even accomplish that? Blackmail?</p>
<p>“Well as dubious as that sounds, making criminals confess their crimes isn’t actually a crime.” Depending on how they did it that is. “However, murder definitely is, which is what you were arrested for”. He looked further down the file. “Along with obstruction of justice, defamation, and a host of other crimes”. That was quite the list there. The death of CEO Okumura as well as the deaths caused by other mental shutdowns were all being pinned on this wounded kid sitting in front of him. </p>
<p>Phoenix pulled out Akira Kurusu’s file which he had requested from the front desk. Opening it revealed a mugshot of Akira’s too young face and details of his previous criminal history. </p>
<p>“It says here you’re currently on probation for assault. Is that accurate?” </p>
<p>Akira clenched his fists on the table. “That’s why I’m in Tokyo. My parents had to send me here because Shujin Academy was the only high school in the area that would accept a criminal”. Akira looked up from his clenched fists to look Phoenix in the eye. “But I was falsely accused. The guy was drunk and was coercing a woman into his car. When I tried to help her, he lunged at us then fell onto the concrete all on his own. He told me he would sue then threatened the witness into lying to the police”. All true. This guy really was let down by the justice system, wasn’t he? No wonder he was so suspicious of him. Phoenix examined the file more, trying to find the drunk man’s name. [REDACTED]. Huh, that was suspicious.</p>
<p>“Do you know the name of the man who accused you?” </p>
<p>“Not yet”. Yet huh? The boy was obviously determined to rise up out of his current circumstance. Phoenix had to admire the kid’s tenacity. He didn’t know how he’d hold up if he was in the same situation as Akira. </p>
<p>“Then moving on from that, the first death that was confirmed as a mental shutdown happened two and a half years ago to a minor politician. Could you confirm your whereabouts at that time?”</p>
<p>“My whereabouts? Two and a half years ago…I would have been attending middle school in my hometown three hours away from here”. It looked like recalling that was more of a challenge than it should have been. Did the drugs do something to addle Akira’s memory? The way Akira was treated by these policemen…it sickened and infuriated Phoenix in equal measures. Trucy had her own brushes with crime sometimes so it was easy to imagine her in Akira’s place. </p>
<p>“What about the deaths that happened concurrently during your time as a Phantom Thief. Were you acquainted with the victims? Those would have been CEO Kunikazu Okumura and…a train conductor?”. Nevermind the method, the disparity of targets was enough to give Phoenix a headache. </p>
<p>Akira shook his head. “The only target I was involved with was the CEO of Big Bang Burger, Okumura. The subway derailments happened before I became a Phantom Thief”. </p>
<p>Akira mentioned he had only moved to Tokyo at the beginning of this year. The mental shutdown incidents occurred mostly within the Tokyo area for the past two years, leading Phoenix to believe that the culprit’s base of operations was in the same area. Had the detectives here even looked at the facts of the case before deciding to pin it on the Phantom Thieves?</p>
<p>“What about CEO Kunikazu Okumura? What was your involvement with him?” These were the big questions. The first trial (of many) would be for the murder of Kunikazu Okumura.</p>
<p>Akira looked down at his bruises in thought. He was looking increasingly worse by the minute and seemed to have trouble keeping his gaze focused.</p>
<p>“Okumura? He was Haru’s father but…” He trailed off into mutters. At first Phoenix thought he was lost in thought but soon it became increasingly obvious that something was wrong from his quickly paling face. </p>
<p>Phoenix tried to pick out what he could from the mutters but all he heard was, ‘Sugimura’, ‘Big Bang’, and ‘abuse’. With the kid’s rapidly deteriorating state it didn’t look like they were going to get anymore from him.</p>
<p>Akira stopped muttering abruptly and stared directly at Trucy with a startlingly clear gaze. </p>
<p>“Please…I can’t think clearly but if you don’t listen to me I will be dead by morning.”<br/>Trucy brought a hand to her mouth, shocked at being addressed so directly, but she quickly gathered herself and nodded determinedly. </p>
<p>“Whatever you need Akira, we’ll do it for you! Just say the word!”</p>
<p>A corner of Akira’s mouth lifted up half-heartedly as if he wanted to smile but didn’t have the strength to. </p>
<p>“Good. Then listen very carefully”. He proceeded to explain all about his plan. How they would need to show the phone to a certain detective and after that, everything would be in place. The details were infuriatingly vague, but Akira looked pitiful enough that denying him this would be akin to kicking an already injured puppy. Also all that talk about ‘certain death’ was somewhat alarming. </p>
<p>Trucy stepped next to him and took the phone, smiling at Akira reassuringly. </p>
<p>“Don’t worry! We’ll make sure you stay alive until at least tomorrow. It’s our Wright Anything Agency guarantee!” Phoenix was quite sure none of that was in any of the paperwork he signed, but Phoenix just smiled at his daughter exasperatedly. He turned a more professional smile onto his unfortunate client.</p>
<p>“As my daughter said, don’t worry Akira. We believe in your innocence”. Akira looked like he didn’t know what to do with their friendly attitudes but smiled hesitantly back at both of them.</p>
<p>“Thanks. And whatever you do, make sure he sees this phone”. </p>
<p>With that parting statement, Trucy led the way out the door with Phoenix following. Just as he was about to shut the door, Akira’s voice called out from behind him.</p>
<p>“Mr. Wright, whatever you find during your investigation just remember,” Akira’s eyes were intense as if they were attempting to inscribe his next words directly into Phoenix’s brain.</p>
<p>“The truth is more complicated than you think”. </p>
<p>With that Phoenix shut the door behind him.</p>
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